The subject matter disclosed herein relates to ultrasonic inspection systems and, more specifically, to an ultrasonic inspection probe assembly.
Ultrasonic inspection probes can be used by an inspection technician to inspect a test object by placing the probe on the surface of the test object and maneuvering the probe along the surface. In some cases, the test object has a curved or contoured surface where the contour changes along the surface of the test object. Some examples of these curved surfaces to be inspected include the bond seams of doors and hoods of cars that require inspection to ensure adequate bonding. Some ultrasonic inspection probes are spring loaded or use hydraulics or pneumatics to create the necessary force to adapt a flexible ultrasonic probe assembly to the curved surface. These existing flexible ultrasonic probe designs are complex and do not retain their original shape after being applied to the curved surface.